The Boston College Eagles (3-8, 0-7) will travel to take on the Syracuse Orange (3-8, 1-6) this week in a battle between a pair of struggling ACC teams. The game kicks off Saturday, Nov 28 at 12:30 p.m. ET and will be shown on ESP3 and CHSS.
In last week’s matchup, Syracuse lost to North Carolina State 42-29. Jordan Fredericks had a great game running the ball in the loss, rushing seven times for 86 yards and one TD. Boston College also fell short, losing a game they could have won against Notre Dame 19-16. Jeff Smith had a good performance through the air for the Eagles, connecting on five of six pass attempts for 24 yards and one TD. He added 100 yards and a TD on five carries.
Boston College is a four-point favorite in this game against the Orange.
Even with a subpar Straight Up (SU) record of 3-8, the Orange played better than expected, going 7-4 Against The Spread (ATS) so far this year. In their five most recent matchups, the Orange went 0-5 SU and 3-2 ATS. The Eagles will need to stop Syracuse’s defense from stripping the ball. It ranks fourth in the nation in fumbles recovered with 1.1 per game.
Over on the other sideline, the Eagles head into Week 13 with records of 5-5-1 ATS and 3-8 SU. Over their last five games, the Eagles have a SU record of 0-5 and a 3-2 record ATS for those betting with them. Opponents just don’t seem to know what to do against the frightening bunch that is the Boston College defense. The Eagles sit atop the nation in rushing yards allowed with 76.7 per game. If the Orange don’t do a good job holding on to the ball, they’ll have a hard time against the Eagles defense, which ranks 20th in the country in turnovers with two per game. The Eagles may have no trouble keeping Syracuse’s offense off the field. This season, the Orange have had an average time of possession of 29:50 per game, ranking them 75th in the country.
Predictions: SU Winner – Boston College, ATS Winner – Boston College
Notes
Syracuse is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games.
The total has gone OVER in 10 of Syracuse’s last 11 games.
Syracuse is 3-9 SU in its last 12 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Syracuse’s last 6 games at home.
Syracuse is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against Boston College.
Boston College is 3-0 SU when leading at the start of the 4th quarter this season. Syracuse is 3-2 SU when carrying a lead into the fourth quarter.
Remarkably, Syracuse is winless (0-4) SU in games where it comes out ahead in the turnover battle, yet 3-2 SU when losing the turnover battle.
Since the beginning of last season, Syracuse is only 2-13 SU against ACC opponents, while Boston College is just 4-11 SU against in-conference foes.
